A technique in which a driver's vehicle operation is learned and its result is variously used for the vehicle is known. Patent document 1 describes an example of a device that uses such a technique.
The device described in patent document 1 is incorporated in a vehicle. The device includes running characteristic control means capable of controlling a running characteristic by adjusting a control gain, a main computer capable of changing the control gain based on the result of learning the running state of the vehicle, and a position calculating computer unit that calculates the position of the vehicle. The main computer unit learns land contours and driver's vehicle operations according to the position of the vehicle, thereby obtaining from a program memory a learning program used to alter the control gain to a gain corresponding to the position of the vehicle. Based on the learning program thus obtained, the main computer unit alters the control gain, which has been set by the running characteristic control means, to a control gain corresponding to the position of the vehicle incorporating this device. Thereby the main computer unit controls the running characteristic of the vehicle. Thus, even when the vehicle runs in any area, a running characteristic corresponding to that area is imparted to the vehicle, and the imparted running characteristic conforms to the driver's intention.